The present invention pertains to fabric softener dispensers used in domestic clothes washing machines and, more particularly, to agitator-mounted fabric softener dispensers.
Several different types of agitator-mounted fabric softener dispensers are known in the art. Typically, such dispensers are adapted to retain fabric softener or other treating liquid within a reservoir during the agitation or wash cycle of washing machine operation and to dispense the treating liquid from the reservoir to a secondary reservoir during the spin cycle. The treating liquid is finally dispensed from the secondary reservoir into the treating chamber or inner wash tub following the spin cycle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,478,059, which issued on Oct. 23, 1984, is exemplary of such dispensers. The '059 patent discloses a bullet or egg-shaped cup from which treating liquid is dispensed during a spin cycle. Treating liquid dispensed from the cup is retained within an annular space surrounding the cup until the spin speed of the agitator slows. When the agitator rotational speed slows, the treating liquid flows down through the hollow agitator, through holes in the bottom of the inner wash tub, and into the bottom of the outer tub.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,044,178 and 5,113,542 disclose parabolic-shaped fabric softener dispenser cups, and methods of dispensing wherein the treating liquid is dispensed directly into the inner tub.
Expired U.S. Pat. No. 2,979,935 provides an annular flange within the hollow agitator which, in cooperation with the centrifugal forces generated during a spin cycle, retain dispensed treating liquid within the agitator until an end of the spin cycle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,118,957 provides impeller vanes on an exterior of a dispenser cup and within a temporary storage chamber to prevent liquid dispensed from the cup from being prematurely dispensed into the inner tub. Brace members are provided at a bottom inner surface of the dispensing cup to make the cup more rigid.
The known treating liquid dispensers, as exemplified by the above-mentioned patents, suffer from the disadvantage that the treating liquid is not positively agitated or mixed during operation of the washing machine in a washing cycle, and may tend to coagulate or settle and thereafter becomes difficult to remove during a spin cycle. The known treating liquid dispensers also have a tendency to splash or spill the treating liquid into the wash tub during the wash cycle, which may damage the clothes and reduces the effectiveness of the treating liquid. Furthermore, the known treating liquid dispensers commonly dispense the treating liquid directly into the inner wash tub and onto the clothes therein, which may damage the clothes and produce inconsistent results.